The woman was home alone early Tuesday morning
when Bruce Webb McLaughlin Jr., 30, kicked in her back door, according to a
release from the Pickens County Sheriff's office.

The escaped inmate was armed with a 12-inch
knife-sharpening tool that he got from the woman's kitchen and wearing his
prison clothes, the sheriff's office said.

When the woman found McLaughlin outside her
bedroom door, she shot him once in the head, according to the release. The
woman, who was not injured, called police to report she had shot an intruder,
and McLaughlin was flown to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The homeowner was licensed to own a gun, and there is no
indication the woman acted criminally in any way, according to the sheriff's
office.

McLaughlin escaped Pickens County Prison with another inmate,
Timothy Cleveland Dill, 32, Tuesday morning. The two inmates assaulted two
detention officers, locked them in a room, and escaped the facility by climbing
over a fence, according to the sheriff's office.

The escape "was pre-meditated and had been planned for
several days and possibly for weeks," the sheriff's office said. Other
inmates tried to help the male and female detention officers, who were
hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

The female guard has more than 16 years of experience at the facility,
and the male guard has more than nine, according to the sheriff's office. The
prison has 76 inmates, all of whom are male.

Dill was recaptured shortly after the escape. He was charged
Tuesday with kidnapping, assault, robbery and escape, according to prison
records. He was being held on charges of sexual conduct with a minor.

McLaughlin
had a criminal record dating back to 2006, but was most recently booked on
burglary and grand larceny charges.